In a message to Congress on December 5, 1815, President James Madison recommended that that body provide “a liberal provision for the immediate extension and gradual completion of the works of defense…on our maritime frontier.” Congress complied, and construction began on a new series of coastal defenses that became known as the Third Coastal Defense System. Charleston Harbor was selected as a location for one of these new forts and, in 1829, a site was selected on a shoal at the harbor's entrance beside the Main Shipping Channel, and about one mile west of Fort Moultrie. It was named Fort Sumter to honor Brig. Gen. Thomas Sumter, a hero of the South Carolina militia during the Revolutionary War.
From 1829 to 1845, approximately 109,000 tons of rock and stone were used to create a 2.5-acre artificial island. Next, a pentagonal brick fort began to rise above the harbor's waters. Fort Sumter was designed to mount 135 guns and provide living space for 650 officers and soldiers. The plan called for the four main walls to house three tiers of guns directed at the channel and the gorge wall to mount guns on the top tier. In December 1860, the fort was 90 percent complete, but construction stopped—never to be resumed—once South Carolina passed the Ordinance of Secession.
Read Full Article »
